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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My name is Jo Anna
Elizabeth George Landavazo. I have three given names, to my mother I am Anna,
to my father I am Jo, but when they both want my attention immediately, it is
always “Jo Anna Elizabeth!!” (Emphasis
on the exclamation marks) To all others I am simply Jo Anna/ JoAnna.

I was born in Texas and the name Jo
for a girl is very common, so my father wanted my name to be Jo, but my last
name is George so naturally I would be known as Jo George. My mother on the
other hand did not approve that my name should sound like a boy’s so she added
the Anna, as a second name, still respecting my father’s choice of naming me
Jo. But I guess this wasn’t enough for both of them since they decided to give
me a third name, Elizabeth, my paternal grandmother’s name.

I have looked up
the origin of my name in various cases, and the way I do it is, I just look up
Joanna, which means God is gracious. Elizabeth means Consecrated to God.

I really like my
name, I like having options to how I can be called. Many of my friends call me
Jo, as does my father and his side of the family. Some family members from my
mother’s side call me Elizabeth, just because they like the name and others
call me Juana, because of the “J” sound in Spanish. My mother simply calls me Anna
most of the time, and occasionally JoAnna. I really like either name and I have
always liked the name Elizabeth.
I have noticed it is a very common middle name and it beautifully complements
many female first names.

Some people do
make comments about my name only when they learn that legally my first name is
Jo, because they automatically assume it is just Joanna. Then I proceed to
explain, briefly telling them this story.